2020

Some lively conversation this week led me to look back at NLP techniques designed to change beliefs.

Timeline therapy is a very valuable tool. You can imagine your present at this center point, and your past off in one direction and your future off in another. Not everyone ‘stores’ the past in the same direction. Your past can be off to your left (most common for those who read from left to right), or to your right (many left-handed folks have this one). You might have your past behind you. Your future might be in front and it might be looking upward.

How in the world do you determine what is what? Well, that is the most significant influence I know. YOU have to notice. Pay attention to what you pay attention to.

In June of 2016, I published a Tip for Well-being called A to Z of Healing. I mentioned a friend, Bob, who was having some side effects from a medical treatment he had gone through. When he asked the doctors what else he might anticipate, they told him they had no idea—Bob was the first person to have lived long enough to have the side effects.

I also mentioned another friend, Hank—whose own heart kept beating while on a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). LVAD is a pump that is used for patients who have reached end-stage heart failure.

In December of 2019, Hank had a stroke but his heart was strong enough that it kept beating for a couple of days even after they removed the LVAD. Hank passed away, but both of these men demonstrated the importance of not letting someone else’s beliefs limit your opportunities.

You have a right to challenge limiting beliefs… especially your own!

You want to notice what is standing in the way of what you really desire.

In December, 2019, I published a Sacred Story titled “Father John”.

She was on retreat.

She put her hand up and the energy of Father John came in.

She says she doesn’t exactly know what happened, but a couple of months later when she had an echocardiogram the mitral regurgitation that was discovered in her 20’s was gone!

When she asked her cardiologist if it’s possible for mitral regurgitation to disappear, he said, “No. Perhaps mitral stenosis.”

(Be willing to honor the nature of healing… Healing is a return to the ever-present well-being that is our true nature, and can happen any time.)

I have often used a guided imagery to release emotions that had been stored in my body to help me make space for new beliefs.

Because the emotions have been stored in the body beneath conscious awareness, I have found it can be very helpful when I use finger signals throughout the process.

I say to myself, “I will let my left pointer finger be the way my body answers ‘yes.'” (You can use any finger on either hand, but I prefer my non-dominant hand.) “I will let my left thumb be the way my body answers ‘no.'”

After I have set up the finger signals, I begin by asking if there are emotions that have been stored in my body and it is helpful to release today. I almost always get an affirmative. Then I ask if there are more than one, more than two, more than three….until I know (or sense or imagine) the number of emotions I am clearing today.

Next I tell myself it is safe now for me to release the first emotion. I breathe and notice where in my body this first emotion had been stored. Play along with me and ask yourself if you now know where in your body emotion had been stored.

If the answer is no or you get no answer, it is easy to simply repeat the direction to breathe and notice where in the body emotion had been stored. It is truly amazing how quickly confirmation that you now know can come.

I proceed by telling myself it is now safe for me to know what gift or lesson this emotion came to bring. I breathe and notice what gift or lesson this emotion came to bring.

Anytime the answer is no or I get no answer, I repeat the direction to myself to breathe and notice. I feel my willingness to know what gift or lesson this emotion had come to bring until I know I know it is safe now to release this emotion.

I breathe and release…. Breathe and release….

I thank my body for releasing emotions and for allowing me to integrate the gifts or lessons into my life.

If you have an active prayer life, you can ask for help. Pray, meditate, repeating the sequence of releasing each emotion that had been generating a limiting belief.

I like to finish by affirming that I am able to notice the ways I enjoy life more now and into the future. Sometimes I notice that I feel lighter. Often I become aware when thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, or even memories have changed in very delightful ways.

Too complex? Don’t know what your limiting beliefs are yet? It is easy!

1. Grab your journal.
2. Ask yourself where you are unhappy or dissatisfied in your life.
3. Ask yourself Why?
4. Identify the limiting beliefs that are holding you back based on #3.
5. Find at least four truths that bust each of your beliefs.
(From CaterpillarstoButterflies.com)

Perhaps you will not instantly notice how you are different now, but even just having read this article invites you to feel release.

Start the New Year off by breathing and releasing limiting beliefs. 2020 symbolizes huge potential. Make it a year to remember all the best as you release the rest…. Live with 2020 vision this year and into the future!